The Bloody Shadow
by Nightangel52
Summary: A few days before Naruto is scheduled to enter the Academy, he overhears his teachers find a loophole that will result in him never being a Konoha ninja. Angered and disappointed in this news, he becomes a missing nin and runs away to get stronger to form his own ninja. Read as Naruto makes his name in the world, not as a Konoha ninja, but as a bounty hunter and assassin.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any other anime for that matter, all rights are reserved to their respective owners.**

 **AN: Now before you comment, I know this idea has been done many times before, but I am going to attempt both a new spin on it and try to make it different from others, if not just a small bit. Therefore, I ask you not to judge the story from others with the same idea, but instead judge it for its own story and tell me both its faults and boons in a review. Thank you and enjoy the story.**

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All was quiet in the Hidden Leaf Village, also known as Konoha, as a young boy stealthily slunk through the alleyways of the large village. This boy had a small frame and wore a faded white shirt that had a flame design on both the front and the back as well as a pair of black pants with an orange stripe on both sides of the legs. The boy, though obviously young, made no sound as he crept through the alleyways and if one looked closely, they could see his bright blue eyes snap in every direction every five seconds. Usually, he kept his mask on at all times to prevent the villagers from fearing him even more, but that night was an exception, and he had to use all of his skills in stealth he had amassed over the years.

He had developed these skills both in hiding from the villagers of the village that feared him for reasons that he still did not know but did not overly care for. The only thing that he cared about was what he had to do to earn their trust, and the only thing he could think of was becoming Hokage, the leader of Konoha, but that meant becoming a shinobi first, which was why he was sneaking around. He had first disguised his image slightly as to not allow people to know it was him. This was easy enough with some hair dye and makeup that he had stolen from a merchant while no-one was paying attention. The only thing that could give him away to a civilian were his clothes, however he could not replace those as they were too expensive with the overcharged prices and he could not steal any without being noticed.

He quickly put those thoughts in a corner of his mind as he arrived near his destination that night. He looked from his position in the alleyway towards a large building known simply as The Academy. This building looked just like any other big building from the back, where he was, however the front did not look too grand either. The only memorable things about the place at first glance were that it had big double doors, a swing under a tree, and many windows on the multi-story building. This was intentional in the boy's opinion. Something that looked like every other building was more likely to be overlooked as the place where all future generations of Konoha soldiers were trained.

His plan, once he entered as a student, was to act like a loudmouth brat to pass under the radar of most teachers and students. He would practice his stealth and tap skills more with pranks that got grander and grander as time went on. Of course, that was not the only reason he did pranks. The other reason was that he simply enjoyed them and he silently mused that his fake mask he would wear was probably more like his true self than the mask he was currently wearing. The mask he was wearing at the moment hid all of his emotions, while his other mask simply enhanced them to the fullest, except true anger. His true self had the great emotions of his emotional mask, but held the control and intellect of his emotionless mask. The only people he had shown this self to were the kind people who ran the great ramen stand, Ichiraku's Ramen, and the current hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konoha and Professor of the Leaf.

The boy stopped at the end of the alleyway, laying low in the shadows provided by the walls and moon. He supposed he was fortunate that the Uchiha Clan had been killed off the previous year, if one passed by with their sharingan active, as they had been obligated to do as Konoha's peace keeping force, he would be found in an instant. However, after a year of pranks and hiding from the Anbu, the Hokage's special force that were under his command, he discovered that these shinobi were much better at hiding themselves than finding others. The only problem was when the Anbu decided to send a sensor after him to try and find his huge chakra signature. It was because of this that the boy learned how to hide most of his chakra to make it feel like there was just some jonin walking around. He was still working on making it even better, however it was very slow going.

He barely peeked around the alleyway as his eyes darted in all directions he could see. He had extremely good vision and could even see about 75% as well at night as he could during the day. The boy stifled a curse as he saw an Anbu using an average hiding technique, which used a simple genjutsu cloak to surround himself with blackness. However, a good eye could catch the subtle difference between pure blackness and the shadows of the buildings. The boy frowned as he thought of how to sneak by the Anbu, before deciding on using one of the traps he had set up the previous day for this very scenario.

The boy reached down and grabbed a pebble before tossing it across the small side road onto a small scale that pulled down a ninja string with it, which activated a small catapult like structure a few hundred yards away, that coil of ninja wire had been extremely hard to acquire, which would launch multiple kunai that would slam into a wall, making it seem like a ninja was attacking another shinobi but missed. Sure enough, in a few seconds, the Anbu released his genjutsu and quickly leapt over to where he heard the sound. He would likely be searching for a good while before giving up, but the boy did not like taking chances so he silently ran over to behind the Academy and picked up a large beige cloak that looked very similar to the paint on the wall that was darkened by the night.

The boy then pulled out two grappling claws from a pouch on his waist before slowly climbing up the building to the window which looked into the room that the meeting would be taking place in. Once he finally got up there after two minutes of climbing, he silently checked his watch and noted that it was five minutes before the supposed meeting was supposed to be started. He was still surprised how easy it was to learn things when one had enhanced hearing while eavesdropping on a bar. He immediately stopped thinking about this and turned his ear to the window while dropping a mottled grey cloak in front of him that he had put underneath the white one to keep them from knowing he was there.

"So, let's get the big thing out of the way," the boy heard a deep voice say dismissively as he heard a few footsteps enter the room. "Naruto Uzumaki, the demon brat, cannot enter the academy. Thanks to Mizuki digging up some old records and documents, I have discovered that as headmaster I can refuse any student entrance into the academy if I feel like the charge will be a danger to others. The hokage also cannot do anything about it, as seen when Garoza Yukimare, the first headmaster, refused access to a Kurama who couldn't control her powers, even though the Second Hokage demanded he let the girl enter."

Naruto's heart sunk as he heard the claps coming from the other people in the room. He briefly perked up as he heard the headmaster question a man named Iruka why he didn't seem so enthusiastic, however the hope that someone would stand up for him was quashed when this Iruka simply said it was nothing and started clapping with the rest. Naruto simply could not believe his ears. His journey had ended before it had even begun and it was for something that Naruto did not even know the cause of. If he was not accepted into the Academy then he would never ascend to the position of Hokage. In fact, his best hope was for him to be turned into a weapon to be used for the good of the village by the one-eyed man that had been trying to recruit him for years.

No… Naruto refused to accept any of these options. If Plan A was out, then Naruto would simply have to settle for Plan G. He had formed many plans for his eventual rise to the position of hokage, however he only had three that could be used if he was refused into the academy. Plan D was to 'accept' being a weapon and get so strong that he simply killed everyone in his path. Plan E had about the same idea, but instead of becoming a weapon he would defect from the village and amass power that way. His final plan, Plan G, was to defect from the village and become stronger and stronger until he founded his own hidden village. Once founded, he would make it stronger and stronger until it was the strongest of all the villages. He would not be hokage, but he would have the respect and admiration of an entire village of people, and that is all he wished.

Naruto sighed as he adjusted his hands for a long wait to hold on to the grappling claws. He would have to wait there on the wall for three hours since the Anbu was undoubtedly more alert after returning to his post after the kunai incident. Even the slightest movement would make him noticed and Naruto would have to wait until the thirty-minute change between shifts occurred. He was planning on returning home and packing to leave in those thirty minutes, but something one of the instructors had said had caught his ear. Apparently, the Academy was having its filing room remodeled and the headmaster wanted one of the instructors to move all cabinets filled with scrolls to that very room for the headmaster to review. They were to be separated by jutsu, academics, taijutsu, and shurikenjutsu as well as another scroll for areas that were not usually taught to the students. Naruto had never felt luckier in his life.

This was why, once three hours had passed, Naruto had been more careful in entering the room than he had ever been doing anything else in his life. He stealthily crept over to the five scrolls that were on the only desk in the room and widened his eyes as they were completely covered in seals. He smiled slightly before putting them in pockets in his pants and crawling outside the window again before closing the window. He climbed down the Academy wall before walking nonchalantly to an area where there was a small breach in the giant wall surrounding Konoha. This was about a twenty-minute walk and gave Naruto plenty of time to consider what he would do. He was also mentally preparing himself for leaving the village and felt minorly disappointed in himself when he was not very sad to leave. Sure, he would miss old-man Hiruzen as well as the two from the ramen stand, but overall, he was happy to leave the village.

As for what he would do, to the south of the Land of Fire was a country known as The Land of Forests which, other than a small criminal group that was notorious down there, had no shinobi village. It was also notoriously difficult for civilians to traverse as the thick foliage prevented them to move through it without getting lost. This applied for untrained shinobi as well, however Naruto only planned on hiding, he would hunt for food and stick close to the river for water. Meanwhile, any teams from Konoha would probably get lost finding him or would simply miss him in the large forests as long as he stayed low.

Once there, he would train more and more until he was at least genin level before the next phase of his plan would commence. As a genin, he would begin traveling around the minor nations, finding jobs and stealing equipment and possibly training scrolls from other shinobi passing through the countries. To do that, he would have to enhance his stealth and assassination techniques before even attempting that. A part of him that was still innocent winced at the thought of killing innocent people for his own goals but he ruthlessly squashed that part of him. He should have done so long ago, being a shinobi meant killing for your villages goals, and if he didn't have a village, that meant he would have to kill for himself and no-one else.

Anyway, he would not only be killing innocent genin and other shinobi to further his own skills. He would also be infiltrating clan compounds and ruins as well as other places with valuable information to further his skills. As he thought this he mentally made a list of places that would be useful to him. He had thought of about five places in the Land of Fire alone when he finally made it to the breach in Konoha's wall. It was only a small hole, barely enough for him to fit through, but it sufficed. He went over to a stump near it and rotated it before pushing it over, revealing four sealing scrolls that were filled to the brim with supplies that would last him about a month. These included, multiple kunai and shuriken, a few explosive tags, ramen cups, two refillable water bottles that cleaned the water inside after a few hours, a roll of ninja wire, and various other things that may be useful in the future.

Naruto quickly checked all the supplies over before unsealing a belt that had slots for the scrolls that would keep them there longer than his pockets would. He then went through the hole with a small grin. Luckily for him, the barrier that had used to surround the village would not be working in a small area that the Kyuubi's chakra had corrupted when he went on the rampage in the village. Naruto sighed to himself as he reviewed that information, when he made his own village he would be sure to make it to where all bars had silence seals in the walls…

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An Anbu looked over the wall as he saw the blonde-haired boy creep through the wall and away from the village. It seemed like the dye had finally worn off, though the Anbu member still reluctantly applauded the demon brat's skill in stealth before it did so. He had not even noticed the kid when he had snuck on to the academy building and stolen a few scrolls, only noticing when he saw that there was one less window on the building than there was before. He then silently stalked the boy until he saw him leave the village.

Now, most Anbu would then try to either kill or stop the boy from leaving, however, Rat was not most Anbu. He had been there when the fox attacked the village and he knew that it was best if the child left the village. If he stayed, the villagers would eventually break his mind and the demon would more than likely break out, and if he was killed then the village would lose one of their greatest assets for all eternity. No, it would be a much better choice to allow the child to think he had effectively evaded him and escaped than force him to come back.

He would not be the one to tell the Hokage that the boy was missing either. In fact, he was sure no-one would notice for a few days unless the headmaster who doesn't want the boy to attend the Academy were to bring attention to the child too soon. No, if the headmaster did that, Naruto would be discovered missing within the hour and the Hokage would release a full search team in all directions, going outside of the village when discovered he was not inside it. The boy would be found, questioned, and kept in the village as a holder for the demon until a new container was found or he died with the demon. Rat would not allow the demon brat to be found that easy. He would help the thing a little by not allowing the headmaster or other teachers to alert anyone of his absence. Hopefully he was smart enough to go to a place where no-one would find him.

With that thought, Rat leapt from his place on top of a light-pole. They would find the brat in a few years or so, preferably after the Third Hokage kicked the bucket, and when that happened they would retrieve their asset. In the meantime, he did not see any problem in letting everyone else in the world deal with the demon while Konoha inevitably became stronger without it. Rat sighed as he changed direction to a place right outside the wall of Konoha. Even if all of these things were the best options in his mind, he would still have to let Lord Danzo know about this new development with the brat. It wouldn't do to have to be executed or, even worse than that, weaken the village because of his opinions after all.

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 **AN: Thank you for reading this far and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Next chapter will show Hiruzen's reaction to the news that Naruto has gone missing along with Naruto's journey to the Land of Forests to escape the village. Please rate and review as well, it helps me tell what I need to fix and what I did right.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, or any other anime for that matter, all rights are reserved to their respective owners.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Phantomthieves11- Thank you! I hope this chapter meets your expectations.**

 **Plums- Thank you, and trust me, that is not happening.**

 **Kage88- thank you**

 **Elypus- Thank you, and I can see why you think the summary is contradictory. However, the rule that only shinobi can be missing ninja does not apply to Naruto. This is because that he carries the nine-tailed beast with him and stole shinobi documents (even though they were only academy ones). However, Konoha can't just say to everyone else "Hey, our tailed best container escaped can you guys help us look for it?" so they have to settle for calling him a missing nin so that no-one will know they have lost the Kyuubi, though everyone will still find out in all likelihood.**

 **DragonMaster128- Thank you!**

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It was dark and cold the first night. Naruto noticed that the stories of shinobi or civilians going out into the wilderness on an adventure never talked about these things. They seemed strong, and immune to the cold, dark, and feeling of being watched constantly in the deep woods of the Land of Fire. However, reality was much different from the imaginary world of children stories. It has been five days since Naruto left Konoha, and he was currently a sixth of the way to the Land of Woods. He would be much farther away still, however on the third night he snuck a ride on a wagon for most of the day before being found and run off. He did steal some more food however, so that was a plus.

However, the young boy had not had much luck since then. On the fourth night, he had to hide all over the woods as a pack of hungry wolves hunted him down. He only managed to get away by masking his scent in mud and climbing a few trees. The fifth night looked like it would be worse as Naruto has not found shelter yet. The young boy sighed as he looked at the sunset barely visible through the trees. He was always travelling in the dense forest near the roads, and only left the visibility of the woods whenever he needed shelter, food, or if a shinobi was passing by.

Naruto grunted softly in disappointment as the road was empty, it turned out not many people travelled to the Land of Woods, and there are not many big cities on the way. He had hoped to find another wagon and take shelter in it so he could move while sleeping, though it seemed that plan was out. He left the visibility of the road and walked for about a hundred yards before climbing a tree about halfway up. On the first day, he had run through the trees like a maniac, until realizing a few hours later that simply attracted predators. He winced as he remembered claws tearing through his side before he had drove a kunai in the animal's eye and brain. If not for his unique healing, he would have been dead before his journey even began and he cursed his stupidity early on.

The blood on his shirt would have attracted more predators, so he replaced it with his one spare shirt that he packed, a green sleeveless shirt he had stolen from a clothes rack a few months before, though he didn't dare wear it in the village after he learned the person was looking high and low for it. Naruto frowned as he turned his thoughts to what he had learned since he left. He would spend two hours a day reading from scrolls, though only ten minutes at a time before he kept moving. He had learned how to hold a kunai correctly and had been practicing throwing shuriken as he travelled, though never where he would be unable to find them. He theorized it would take much longer for him to be able to throw a shuriken well, though he needed the skill.

Naruto squinted his eyes before he finally found what he was looking for and jumped down the tree. He stealthily moved towards the location with nary a sound before looking at a small cave that looked like perfect shelter. Naruto grabbed a few sticks and leaves and spent about an hour putting up a barrier of leaves and sticks over the entrance to the cave with a small slot for him to go through. He had hidden in a cave like this once before when the villagers had actually managed to chase him a small ways out of the village into the woods. It had taken much more trial and error back then, but it worked and he hid in it until the Hokage found him three days later.

Naruto hastily grabbed a few twigs and leaves before going into the cave and unsealing a flint and steal. He expertly cracked the two together to make flames come to life inside of the cave, though the light was still mostly hidden by the wall of sticks. He smiled softly as he realized he had a few hours of security and unsealed a scroll from the academy about chakra control. The first day he had escaped, he had immediately tried to learn one of the academy ninjutsu. It had failed in an extraordinary manner, so Naruto decided to read the lesson plan for the next year and found that he was supposed to learn the Leaf Concentration Exercise before trying any jutsu to build his control.

He softly put a leaf onto his forehead and breathed in to calm himself. The point of the exercise was to concentrate his chakra into one point. The leaf would give a focal point for this exercise and hopefully it would increase his concentration as well. Naruto closed his eyes in concentration and focused his chakra to the point. He noticed a tiny amount moved to it but not as much as he had wanted. He frowned as he imagined his chakra, seeing a chaotic whirlwind going all around him and sighed. It would be a long hour.

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Danzo Shimura hummed softly as he read over the reports of Rat and his other Root Anbu in the village. He was an old man with half his face covered in bandages along with his right arm. His dark eyes showed no emotion as they skimmed over the neat written words. For the past five days, his personal Anbu had been going over the village, 'encouraging' people to keep quiet about the demon brat missing and covering any tracks he left in the village. The Devil of Shinobi frowned as he saw that the headmaster was adamant about telling the Hokage that Naruto was not allowed in the Academy. What a fool. Danzo wrote down a note to tell one of his Anbu to take care of the headmaster and make sure he doesn't talk.

The situation was truly a precarious one in the old man's opinions. If the Hokage, the old fool his old friend was, found out about Naruto's disappearance he would declare the boy a missing nin so that he would be found and brought back quicker. However, Danzo knew that at least one person would find it suspicious that a random boy that wasn't even a shinobi was declared such a thing, and would theorize. This would weaken the village, though not as much as having the Uzumaki stay in the village would. The boy caused many shinobi to fear him, making them weak in Danzo's eyes. With the boy gone, fear could not disrupt any shinobis' abilities and skill. Also, his pranks disrupted the stability of the village constantly, having that gone was good. Finally, having the boy out of the village would make the possibility of another Kyuubi Rampage almost impossible.

Bringing the boy back to the village would either result in the boy's imprisonment or execution, both would result in a loss of village security. As a prisoner, the boy would not be able to be turned into a weapon, wasting the potential of the Kyuubi. Also, if he was executed, the Kyuubi would be killed with him and result in the permanent loss of a great weapon for Konoha. Hiruzen would not realize this, instead seeing the chance to retrieve the boy he saw as a surrogate grandson and not realizing the council would go behind his back to get rid of the boy.

Danzo sighed once again as he looked over the progress his Root soldiers had made. The emotionless drones had made it to where it would take the village twice as long to look for the boy. Danzo, satisfied with the progress he had made, tossed the reports aside and turned his attention to other matters. He would let the boy flee, get stronger, then he would capture the brat and turn him into a mindless weapon. You could never have too many of those after all…

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Naruto yawned as he stretched on the stone floor of the cave. He had made a small amount of progress the last night and could now send a sixth of the chakra he wanted to into the point. It wasn't that he didn't have enough chakra, only that a large amount of it would go towards the point, though only a small portion would actually go to it. If he had released it, then all the chakra around it would have gone out, making any technique he made unstable. However, he was confident that if he perfected this technique, he would be able to send just the amount he wanted to into a technique before shutting it off before the rest of the chakra escaped.

He slowly stood up and dusted himself off before moving out of the cave and towards the road again. He saw it after walking for a few minutes and sighed as he saw no-one on it again. He shrugged before moving along it slowly once again, making a conscious effort to stay out of sight. Judging by the sun, Naruto though that the current time was around 7:30 A.M. He smirked slightly at that, he had been working on waking at the same time every morning so that he could get enough rest while still having plenty of time to move.

As he began walking through the forest the boy mentally reviewed everything he knew about the Land of Forests and the path to it. There was a large river that began in the Land of Forests in a town known as Kawakanjo and emptied out into the Zugai Sea on the other end of the land. The geography of the lands was strange, with the Land of Swamps blocking any path into the Land of Fire without taking the road which required a tax paid to the Arigeta Clan, the only clan and inhabitants of the Land of Swamps. To the right of the Land of Forests was the Land of Bears, and to the right of that was the Land of Demons. Meanwhile, to the southwest was the Land of Valleys, which finished the ownership of the large strip of land to the south of the Land of Fire.

Anyway, the Land of Forests was made up of about five towns all along the Shinrin River, the river going through the eastern part of the land, and not much else. There was no daimyo or shinobi village, which made it the perfect place to make one in Naruto's opinion. Not only that, but there wasn't much known about the land and even shinobi were known to get lost in the dense forests. Once Naruto got there, he could train until he became competent and then he could leave to become much stronger.

The tax to enter the Land of Swamps was not much, and the only reason he had not decided to hide there instead was the Arigeta Clan, but it would require him to be out in the open for a few days. By then the village would undoubtedly notice his absence and start searching for him. He did not know why, but he was special for some reason and would not be allowed to simply leave. Originally, he thought this was because he was an Uzumaki and they must have been dishonored in some way similar to how the Hatake name temporarily was when Sakumo Hatake failed his important mission back during the Third Great Shinobi War. However, this theory was disproven after a little research about the history of the Uzumaki clan.

Naruto sighed slightly as he continued walking. It didn't really matter he supposed, in the end he was hated by the villagers and he may never know why. He had a small hope that he had a bloodline since there was another chakra inside of his body that appeared whenever he became extremely angry. His thoughts came to a screeching halt after he heard talking down the road along with the sound of a wagon approaching. He saw that two farmers were riding towards his spot in the road with a wagon full of food and an idea sprang up to his mind.

He shakily stepped out into the road in front of the two as they moved towards them and they stopped their wagon before looking Naruto up and down. "Kami kid, what the hell happened to you?" the smaller farmer asked before being nudged by the bigger one. Naruto willed himself to show tears and he quickly wiped them away in an incredible act of helplessness. He had not used this mask in a while since the villagers did not believe it, but maybe the farmers would.

"Hey there misters," Naruto said in a sniffling voice, sounding like a helpless child trying to be nice to others. "Have you seen my parents? We were going to the Land of Forests to visit my grandma when an-an animal came out and growled at us. My parents told me to run and I haven't seen them since…"

The farmers looked at each other before one sighed and looked down at Naruto. "What did the animal look like kid?" the farmer asked to verify Naruto's story.

"It was about your size mister when it stood up. It had black hair all around it and had knives sticking out of its hands," Naruto said, starting to cry harder.

The farmer winced at that. Along the road there were many stories about bears that attack civilians, and there were even a few corpses on some days that told the tale-tell signs of a bear attack. When he looked at Naruto he could see that the boy had been running through the woods for days at least and finally sighed and looked at his partner, who nodded in agreement. The two scooted over and told Naruto to sit in the space they provided. Naruto finally stopped crying at this, but still looked depressed as he sat between the two kind farmers.

As he looked at the two, they were trying to find something to say by the looks on their faces, he discreetly memorized every detail of the two. He had learned early on that it was important to be able to recognize people to tell who would sell him things and who would try to beat him. The smaller farmer was about 6 feet tall with a muscular body, though it was more in a lean way that many shinobi built their own in. He had black hair and brown eyes as well as a small nose that was a little crooked. The two were tan, showing that they worked outdoors all day, and Naruto could see by their hands that they had been working for a while. They also both wore the same clothes, tan cloth along with brown shorts and shoes.

The bigger one looked like a usual farmer in terms of muscle, being much broader and a little taller than his partner. He had on a straw hat and seemed to have grey hair. Once Naruto looked closer, he could also notice a few wrinkles and scars on the man's face along with his broad nose and brown eyes. He coughed slightly before turning to Naruto with a kind smile. "So, what's your name kid?" the older farmer asked in a kind voice that reminded Naruto of the Hokage.

Naruto sniffed before saying that his name was Yurei Kishi, a name he had come up with long ago. The older man smiled at Naruto again and responded, "Pleased to meet you Yurei, my name is Kabu, and this is my son Kyabe." Naruto looked at Kyabe who smiled slightly, similar to his father, and nodded at the boy in greeting. "You know, we were planning on going to the Land of Forests. We need to deliver all of this food to Ruto, where does your grandmother live?"

Naruto sniffed once again, though made sure there was a sparkle of hope in his eyes. "She lives in Kawakanjo," he said in a small voice.

The man nodded and asked, "Would you like to come with us to the Land of Forests then?" Naruto nodded his head quickly before the two farmers smiled. "Then it is settled, welcome to our little adventure Yurei. We should be able to get you home in a few days thanks to old Hashirama here," the man said, patting the horse pulling the wagon affectionately.

"Father, I still cannot believe that you would name a horse after the First Hokage…" Kyabe mumbled while Naruto looked at Kabu questionably.

The older man huffed and looked to the side, obviously annoyed. "How many times do I have to tell you? Obviously if you name something after someone strong, they too will probably become strong."

"You won't be able to tell me that any more if you do not keep your eyes on the road," Kyabe smirked as his father growled, but put his eyes to the road once more. Naruto was honestly in a small bit of shock, he did not expect his plan to work. No-one had been nice to him expecting nothing in return except for three people! Kyabe looked at Naruto before sighing, "Kid, it might help if you talk about them you know?"

Naruto looked up to Kyabe with wide eyes, surprised, but then made them look sad again as he looked down. Kubo looked at his son in annoyance at his bluntness and he simply shrugged in response. The old man sighed in exasperation before looking once more to Naruto. "Look, as abruptly as Kyabe put it, he still has a point. When his mother died, he was depressed for months and even joined a ninja group. He was never the same, even when he came back, until I finally made him sit down and talk about his mother. He had not known how to cope with the feelings and had to let them all out, maybe that is what you have to do too…"

Naruto's eye's widened, mentally this time, with this new information. No wonder Kyabe did not look like most farmers, he must have just recently become one. That must be why they were travelling on the dangerous road as well, because a shinobi can effortlessly fend off animals while two farmers can't. He eventually nodded slightly after a small moment of silence. "My father was a cold person, I never really knew him well," Naruto began, surprising the other two, who really did not expect him to say anything just yet.

"He was a shinobi before his knee was shattered beyond repair. For the rest of his life he walked with a limp and was very bitter to everyone, though he would still defend his family with everything he had. Later, he accidentally crushed his hand as well while making a sword while distracted, making it to where he couldn't work anymore. This was when I was five."

"My mother picked up where he left off and sold dresses and kimonos for a living, being able to afford the rent of our small home and being able to pay for our food. However, our house was burnt down recently because of our stove and we were forced to move in with my grandma's house. Our savings were burnt in the fire and we only had enough to buy food for the trip so we couldn't afford escorts. That was when the animal came…" Naruto trailed off, beginning to cry louder.

"I miss them so much! I want them to come back!" Naruto yelled, making the older man put his arm around him and hold him closer. In reality, Naruto was crying about leaving his village and the few loved ones he had. He missed Hiruzen as well as the two ramen workers but knew that he could not go back now, there was nothing left there. So, he cried for missed opportunities and lost loved ones until he eventually faded to sleep, comforted by the warmth of the old farmer that was so much like his jiji.

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Naruto awoke with a small headache and looked around to see he was laid out on a small blanket with a plate of food in front of him. He looked around to see the two farmers talking/arguing once more. This time they were arguing about which meat was better, captive pig or wild pig when they noticed Naruto move and they both smiled at him. "Hey there, got some lunch for you," Kubo said while nodding towards the plate of food with pork and rice on it. It wasn't ramen, but not much things Naruto ate were anymore.

"Thank you," Naruto said softly as he ate the rice slowly. He was actually pretty embarrassed about losing control of his emotions like that. However, looking back, he felt better now after letting it all go like that. He hadn't had time to do that while trying to stay alive in the woods.

"Don't mention it kid," Kyabe said with a smirk as he ripped a piece of meat off the pork chop he was eating.

"What are you thanking him for, you didn't even do anything besides make him cry," Kubo said while eating his own mean, starting another argument. Naruto looked at them both and smiled sadly. He had never known anything like this, the love of a father and son. While the two bickered constantly, Naruto could still see that they would die for each other in a heartbeat. Naruto had never known that feeling, sure he had three loved ones but he didn't think that they would give their lives for him. He did not think the two farmers would either, but he still was starting to care for them because of their kindness towards him.

He put these thoughts in a small corner of his mind when Kyabe looked at him with a small amount of suspicion. "So, when you were falling asleep I could not help but notice that you had a few scrolls on you, what are those about?"

Naruto and Kubo were both surprised at the question but Naruto quickly found a response, "My father had received them from his sensei and had even written a few himself for me. He wanted me to be a shinobi so I could carry on his legacy."

Kyabe nodded, satisfied with the answer, before responding in a serious tone of voice, "If you need help with any of the things in there or want to start training with the techniques even, just ask me. I'm not much stronger than an average genin so I won't be able to teach you any fancy tricks, but I can still get you started."

Naruto acted like he was thinking about it for a moment before responding in a serious tone as well, "Thank you Kyabe-san, I would like your help in this. I think it will help me remember my father better." He wasn't lying technically, he would always remember Hiruzen whenever he did any jutsu, he was called the Professor after all for his knowledge on the subject.

The ex-shinobi nodded before going back to his food while his father sighed in a small amount of disappointment. "They really are starting them young nowadays huh? Of course, that's nothing new, they took you when you were only 16," Kubo said which Kyabe shrugged at.

"There are shinobi who become more powerful than 500 men at younger ages. Just look at Kakashi the Copy Ninja. He became a jonin at only 13 years old. And at 14 he became one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha with that sharingan of his."

Naruto stayed silent as the two older men talked about the shinobi world. It was interesting to Naruto to see a civilian and shinobi's point of view on the world. He was also fascinated that at such a young age someone could be so strong. He wondered if he could get that strong so fast with his chakra reserves. "Um, what do you two do?" Naruto asked curiously, still with a hint of sadness visible in his eyes to avoid suspicion. Plus, he couldn't really hide it anymore.

Kubo's chest puffed up in pride while his son softly rolled his eyes at his father. "Why my boy, you are in the presence of the best farmer in the Land of Fire. There is no-one who grows rice as good as mine, nor breeds pigs and cows as well as I do."

Kyabe sighed in exasperation, "Father, every farmer says that, no matter how good their goods are. Anyway, I defend the land from roaming boars and wolves as well as escort my old and feeble father whenever he has to travel. My brother takes care of the farm while we are away." Kubo scoffed at that last part but anyone could still see he was proud of himself and his sons.

"You have another son?" Naruto asked Kubo, who nodded proudly.

"Yep, and he is almost as good a farmer as I am, almost," the old man winked. "Retasu is his name and he looks like a clone of myself, but with his mother's eyes."

"Yea, his eyes are the only things that save him from being completely hideous," Kyabe laughed as his father growled at him again. Naruto could start to see a pattern here, but chose to ignore it to ask Kyabe if he could help him with his chakra control, which he agreed to for the rest of the lunch break. As they trained together, Kubo couldn't help but smile. He knew that himself and his son could never fill the bond that was lost, but he hoped that they could at least help him as much as possible before he went to his grandmother's.

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 **(5 days later)**

Naruto was happy. That was the only thing that he could think about at the moment. Being happy was a rare thing for him but, traveling with the arguing father and son, he felt it. He loved training with Kyabe, and now could do the leaf concentration exercise without much problems and was working on the henge and tree walking exercise. He didn't think he would be completing the tree walking exercise anytime soon however, he had yet to reach six feet up a tree, though Kyabe-sensei, as Naruto took to calling the embarrassed ex-shinobi, was always encouraging. Meanwhile, Kubo could talk for hours about his beloved farm and had many tales about his travels selling his goods. Kyabe also had some interesting stories, but Kubo did not like hearing about his son's past as a shinobi.

Currently, the group had just passed the taxation booth on the entrance to the country. While passing, Naruto noticed that the two guards were eyeing them suspiciously before shrugging it off. He figured that they were just wary of them because they were from Fire Country. The shinobi of Konoha and the Arigeta Clan had been fighting ever since the village's creation after all, and even now shinobi of the village had to pay an extra tax to even get through the land.

The Arigeta Clan had fought both the Uchiha and Senju during the Warring States Period and had lost many comrades to the two clans, though they killed their fair share as well, and the grudge had never left the clan members. Their talent for battle never left them, as they had resisted a full-scale assault launched by the Second Hokage that was rumored to have created the marshland. They are very skilled in archery, genjutsu, and water style jutsu, and they even have a summoning contract for alligators.

Speaking of which, Naruto got slightly nervous as he noticed a small number of large alligators swimming by the road and staring at the group. He could only hope that the clan would not attack them just because of where they were from. While he was worried about those eyes, he did not think to be worried of the much more dangerous pair up above.

"Hm, I have not been in this land for a long time…" Kubo said with a wistful smile as he looked to the mossy trees. "The last time I was here was 20 years ago. I was a younger man then, and an alligator about the size as me now had decided it wanted some young human meat. So, I grabbed it by the snout and beat it into the ground. We had fresh gator that night," the man bragged, and Naruto was interested until Kyabe stepped in.

"Mother said you screamed like a little girl and threw some pork at it before running," he said while trying not to laugh. Kubo grumbled about interrupting and disrespectful children before a shinobi with a headband that showed an alligator head on the metal plate jumped in front of them.

Kubo raised an eyebrow but still smiled kindly at the shinobi, "Hello there shinobi-san, have we done something wrong?"

The shinobi seemed to bristle at that comment before drawing the katana on his hip and nodding with a cruel smile. "Yes, yes you have old man. You Fire Land bastards killed my brother!" he growled out before charging at the shocked group to clash his sword with Kyabe's tanto he hid behind his shirt.

"Yurei, father, you both need to run! I'll hold him off as long as possible, go!" he yelled out as his father nodded and grabbed Naruto before they both hopped on the horse and hit the latch off. The horse galloped away as Kyabe and the shinobi squared off against each other.

"Haha, you should run now little farmer, maybe I'll feel generous and wait until you all reach the border before killing you," he said with a smirk before blocking a slash from Kyabe without much trouble. "Not very strong are you? Oh well, at least you are a shinobi. I had heard that some people form the Land of Fire or even Konoha were coming through, so I had to try and be able to get a patrol job alone. It took a lot of work, and I even had to call in a favor in the end, oh but it will be worth it to see your pathetic father's face when you're dead," he said with a laugh.

"That won't happen!" Kyabe yelled out as he put more pressure against the tanto. His eyes then widened as he felt an immense pain in his chest and the man he was facing off with dispersed into water on the ground. He shakily looked down to see a blade covered in blood sticking out of his chest before it was pulled out with a sick sound. As he fell on the ground he saw the shinobi give him a cheeky smile and a salute before running where Kyabe remembered his father run off to. He hit the ground with a thud and winced as he saw the alligators come out from the water towards his prone form. He smiled slightly just before the alligators attacked his prone form. "Mother… I'm coming…"

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Kubo snapped the reins of his horse over and over, ignoring the tears in his eyes. Naruto and the old man both knew that Kyabe was probably dead. He was just a genin after all and the other man holding a katana meant he probably knew how to use it. Not to mention the many alligators around the young man. The two continued riding at high speeds before an arrow speared the horse right through the side of the head, killing it instantly and launching the two into the ground along with the beast.

Naruto tried to get his vision to clear from the dust and tears, but as soon as he did he wished he hadn't. Right in front of him was Kubo, his head split wide open and his brains spilling out. He was dead and the shinobi was approaching from behind the old man. "Ugh, I forgot that civilians were so weak!" he growled before picking up the body of Naruto's friend and throwing it to the gators. "Oh? What do we have here?" he said while looking at Naruto, who was in a state of shock with tears falling down from his eyes. "Oh, you must be the old man's brat! Or were you the shinobi's…? Doesn't matter now, they're both dead," he said sadistically. "They were trash… only the powerful deserve to live. My brother was powerful you know? But the weaklings swarmed him and he was killed like a dog! But now… now I'll kill you like a dog. And I will be that much closer to vengeance…" he smiled as he raised his katana. "Don't cry, you'll see your family soon little one!" he yelled as his sword fell.

He grinned as he saw blood spatter on the ground, but then frowned as his sword did not budge. He looked and saw that the boy had caught it and was holding it up with his bare hands. Before he could react, the boy drug the shinobi towards himself and speared him through the heart with his hand. He tried to speak, but found that he couldn't as he stared at the boy's red eyes with slit pupils and finally felt his overwhelming chakra. "W-what are you…?" he asked with wide eyes as Naruto ripped his arm out of the shinobi.

"A demon," he said coldly as the man fell to the ground to die. Naruto quickly sealed his gear and closed Kubo's eyes before running to the Land of Forests straight through the swamp. He would mourn later, for now he needed to get to safety. When he does that, he'll cry and figure out what the hell he is.

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Hiruzen sighed sadly as he reread the report brought to him by a shinobi from the Arigeta Clan. They were demanding to know why they were travelling a jinchuriki through their land and were threatening war. That did not bother Hiruzen as he knew that the Arigeta Clan could only defend and they did not receive much trade from the lands beyond the Land of Swamps anyway. What did bother Hiruzen is that not only was Naruto gone, but he had been gone for days and he had never figured out.

He had already discovered the reason a while ago. The headmaster had mysteriously disappeared a few days ago, and that day the Anbu found documents saying that the teachers and headmaster had prevented Naruto from joining the Academy. They had all been fired and replaced immediately, Hiruzen didn't give a damn what the council said. He frowned deeply as he began to think like a hokage. He would mourn Naruto's leaving later, now he had to be a leader. His village had just lost their greatest… weapon… and soon all of the other villages would know about it. He had to find a way to make sure that the villages still knew they were more than capable of winning any war declared on them.

The only way to do that was to find a power that was equal to any tailed beast. Or a power that could control the beasts… "Dog!" the old man called out commandingly. Immediately, a shinobi with a mask slightly resembling a dog dropped down in front of Hiruzen. "Get to the coding facility and tell them to write a message to Fox. Tell them to say that we need him back here." The shinobi's eyes, both the regular and sharingan one, seemed like they were confused but he nodded nonetheless and went off to carry out his orders.

Hiruzen sighed as he turned his chair around to look over the village. They would be unable to get a tailed beast back without causing a war or losing an alliance, but an S-class ninja who could control the beasts into submission may be just as good…

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 **AN: Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also, I am sure you can all tell by now that Itachi will be coming back to the village. This means that the 'truth' of the Uchiha Massacre will be revealed, though Hiruzen will obviously word it to where it will not be tied with them. While some people may disagree with this, if the other villages know about the Kyuubi no longer being under Konoha control, then they will think that Konoha is weak and may declare war on them. Hiruzen wants there to be peace so he will try to avoid that in whatever way possible. The only two options he really has to replace the tailed beast and the threat it produced are to call back Itachi, who has the Mangekou Sharingan and can therefore control tailed beasts, or take the seven tails from Takigakure and probably lose their alliance. Hiruzen would only dissolve the alliance that had been there for years if there were no other options, and he still has another one. Anyway, next chapter will be about Naruto trekking through the Land of Forest and trying to get stronger as well as introducing another main character in this story. Until next time, Ja Ne!**


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